Combo organ: Reface YC

Posted on March 29, 2021 by pj

Checking out organ-related threads in the music forums, combo organs get short shrift while most folks focus on the Hammond B-3 tonewheel sounds. Today’s post will (almost) ignore the B-3…

Organ-focused keyboards from Nord, Hammond, Yamaha and others have combo organ emulations in addition to tonewheel synthesis. All offer two vintage flavors: Vox and Farfisa. Nord and Hammond throw in pipe organ, piano, EP and instrument emulations, too, making for full all-rounders.

Drawbar control abounds! In the case of Vox, each physical Nord drawbar corresponds to a Vox Continental drawbar footage (with possible extensions). Nord Electro 6, for example, offers 16′, 8′, 4′, 2′, II, III, IV and sine. The 16′, 8′, 4′, IV and sine are basic Continental tones. Nord’s emulation kicks the basics up to dual-manual, Continental II territory by adding a 2′ footage and two overtone mixtures, II and III. The mixtures consist of the following ranks:

II: 5 1/3′ and 1 3/5′ pipes
III: 2 2/3′, 2′ and 1′ pipes
IV: 2 2/3′, 2′, 1 3/5′ and 1′ pipes

The III and IV mixtures add the Hammond-like overtones missing from the original Continental. Hammond employ a similar Vox drawbar assignment in the Sk1/Sk2 series.

Discrete voice (tab) stops pose a minor problem: How to provide discrete On/Off control with sliders (drawbars)? In the case of Farfisa emulation, Nord and Hammond assign each Farfisa tab to a drawbar:

    Drawbar  Farfisa (Nord)  Farfisa (Hammond) 
    -------  --------------  -----------------  
       1     Bass 16'        Bass 16' 
       2     Strings 16'     Strings 16' 
       3     Flute 8'        Flute 8' 
       4     Oboe 8'         Oboe 8'  
       5     Trumpet 8'      Trumpet 8'  
       6     Strings 8'      Strings 8'  
       7     Flute 4'        Flute 4'  
       8     Strings 4'      Piccolo 4'  
       9     2 2/3           Strings 4'

The Hammond voice set is the same as the Farfisa Combo Compact. The Combo Compact Deluxe replaced the Piccolo 4′ voice with a bright 2 2/3′ overtone tab, adding a bit of Hammond-like whistle. The Nord voice set covers the Combo Compact Deluxe model.

Yamaha have taken their own approach to combo organ emulation with the YC61. The YC61 synthesizes tonewheel tones through Virtual Circuit Modeling (VCM) that emulates the sound of analog tonewheels and associated circuitry. Vox (YC61 organ model F2) and Farfisa (model F3) sounds are produced using frequency modulation (FM) synthesis. The YC61 also provides a sine wave “combo” model (F1). The YC61 drawbars bring in the usual drawbar footages with the exception of the 1′ drawbar which is disabled in all FM models (F1, F2, and F3).

Gotta wonder if we can port the F1, F2 and F3 FM organs to Montage and MODX?

Thanks to the frapping pandemic, I have yet to play a YC61. (Grrr.) However, I have played the Nord Electro 6D and Hammond Sk1. Both provide excellent combo organ sounds. Pipe organ (Nord and Hammond) is a big plus for a church player. I give Nord’s orchestral samples and library the edge over Hammond.

Yamaha Reface YC

Yamaha Reface YC promises tonewheel and combo organ sounds on the cheap. By and large, it delivers. I have really worked the Reface YC as a rehearsal instrument and as a gig instrument in church. That said, here are some detailed observations (positive and negative).

Reface YC Typical Vox and Farfisa settings (Source: Yamaha)

I roll my eyes a bit whenever anyone posts about how they “wish the Motif XF (Montage, MODX) had the Reface YC technology inside.” News flash, the Reface YC shares much of its technology with Motif XF, Montage and MODX already. Yamaha simply repackaged and revoiced the basic AWM2 DNA in a wonderfully accessible form. Wisely, Yamaha reacted to the warm user reception and reaction caused by the YC and its popular pal, the Reface CP. Yamaha is now taking it to the bank with the current full-sized CP and YC keyboards.

The Reface YC emulates five different organ models:

H: Hammond tonewheel
V: Vox transistor organ (1960s)
F: Farfisa transistor organ (1960s)
A: Acetone transistor organ (1970s)
Y: Yamaha transistor organ (1972)

The Reface YC drawbars, buttons and sliders directly map to Hammond organ drawbars and controls. What about the combo organs?

I stripped away all of the effects (percussion, chorus, distortion, reverb, etc.) and sampled each of the five voices (8′ foot pipe, middle C). The five waveforms are pictured below. The H and V waves, especially, have a sinusoidal shape. The nasal F wave is truly unique. [Click image to enlarge.]

Reface YC waveforms (middle C, 8′ organ stop)

Since the Vox Continental had drawbars itself, the YC drawbars correspond to a single Vox drawbar sound (the V wave) played back at the appropriate footage (pitch). The YC Vox is based on a single Vox wave, just like the Montage (MODX and Motif XF). In Montage land, this is the “Vx Drawbar1-3” waveform. In the “you get want you pay for” department, the YC Vox does not have the reed and sine drawbars/sounds, and you must dial in the II, III, and IV mixtures yourself.

For the sake of authenticity, one should never put a combo organ through the rotary speaker effect. Trust me. Most of us in the 60s could barely afford an organ and an amp, let alone buy a Leslie. Then there is the issue of getting to the gig. Everything needed to fit into the back of Dad’s car!

The YC Farfisa, Acetone and Yamaha organ implementations follow the same design as the Vox. Each of the four combo organs (V, F, A and Y) consist of a single wave played back at different pitches according to drawbar footage.

Listening to the stripped down F wave, my first thought was “Accordion!” The 60s Farfisa organs were designed by accordion makers and I believe that the raspy Farfisa tone is their intentional attempt to build an electronic accordion. [Memories of Mom and Dad saying, “Why don’t you play accordion and learn a few wedding songs?” Who knew?] The name “Farfisa” is a contraction of “Fabbriche Riunite De Fisarmoniche”, the company formed by pre=World War 2 Italian accordian makers Settimio, Soprani, Scandalli, and Frontallini. It ain’t an accident, folks.

Thus, in terms of control, the Reface YC is quite unlike a real Farfisa Combo Compact with its discrete voice tabs. Once again, you pay more for Nord or Hammond and you get more authenticity. That doesn’t mean you can’t get a decent Farfisa tone out of Reface YC. It’s raspy enough for Wooly Bully and other cover songs. The chosen F wave is versatile and, well, Farfisa voices are pretty much the same wave filtered differently. The screaming Tone Boost is missing in action, though.

I give the Reface YC an A- and B+, respectively, for Vox and Farfisa authenticity. I don’t have any direct experience with Acetone and early Yamaha organs — just the soundtracks of old Japanese kaiju (monster) movies. The YC sounds realistic enough.

I experimented with YC percussion in isolation, too. Each of the Reface combo organ voices has its own distinctive percussion. I recommend trying this at home as some of the settings are almost clav-like and would do in a pinch. A few settings remind me of the 1970s Crumar Roadrunner electronic piano — the most crap-tastic electronic piano ever made. Yes, I owned one, played one, and sold it off as fast as humanly possible. 🙂

After analyzing the Reface YC, I understand better how Yamaha teased organ voices from modest hardware. I also have renewed respect for the Montage (MODX, Motif XF) organ voicing and real-time control. The Montage, MODX and Motif XF have all the sonic materials necessary to meet and/or best the Reface YC. Still, you can’t throw a Montage or a MODX into a tiny bag and jump on the bus, train or plane.

DIY drawbar control

If you want to add a few drawbars via MIDI, try my Sparfun Danger Shield drawbars project. Or, at least read my Sparkfun Danger Shield review.

I also gave the Crumar D9U drawbar kit a spin:

The Crumar D9U is a DIY, Arduino-compatible drawbar kit. This series of articles describe my experience from beginning to end and include C code. Don’t want DIY? Then try the ready-made Crumar D9X.

MODX: Select Performance from MMS

Posted on October 18, 2018 by pj

Between shopping for Halloween candy and the dentist, there’s just enough time for a few quick experiments with Yamaha MODX and Mobile Music Sequencer (MMS).

I’ve explored MMS MIDI messages in earlier blog posts. MMS transmits MIDI messages that by and large conform to the Yamaha XG voice and effects architecture. The MMS software synth engine resembles an XG tone generator albeit with a smaller and somewhat unique voice set.

MMS is capable of driving Motif XS/XF, MOX/MOXF and MX synthesizers with voice change messages. It can also drive Tyros 5, and with a few limitations, Genos and PSR arranger workstations.

The experiment de jour is sending Motif XF voice change messages MMS to MODX. On the face of it, this may seem absurd because the Montage/MODX and Motif XF have radically different patch (Performance) assignments. However, a MIDI program change message sequence,

Bank Select MSB (CC#0)
Bank Select LSB (CC#32)
Program Change

is a program change message sequence no matter what the target is. The trick is to send meaningful program change messages which achieve an intentional result.

Thus, the first question is “What Motif XF patch changes can MMS send?” In order to find out, we need to tell MMS that we intend to communicate with a Motif XF. Navigate to the SYSTEM > MIDI PORT screen and touch the HARDWARE button. Select Motif XF from the list of potential targets. Then, return to the phrase view. [Click images to enlarge.]

Next, we must disable Voice Link. Create a new MMS project with Voice Link disabled. With Voice Link disabled, MMS will not set a part voice automatically when it loads a phrase.

We will send patch change messages manually. Select an MMS part and touch the PART VOICE SELECT button. In the center near the top of the PART VOICE SELECT screen, you should see a button labelled “MOTIF XF”. Tap the button.

Now, you should see the hardware voice selection screen with “MOTIF XF” in the upper left hand corner. Touch the BANK tab.

We need to know and understand how the Motif XF bank and voice numbers relate to the MODX (and Montage) presets. Here is a correspondence table:

Motif XF bank	MSB	LSB	MODX Single-Part Preset Group
PRE1	63	0	Group 1
PRE2	63	1	Group 2
PRE3	63	2	Group 3
PRE4	63	3	Group 4
PRE5	63	4	Group 5
PRE6	63	5	Group 6
PRE7	63	6	Group 7
PRE8	63	7	Group 8
USR1	63	8	Group 9
USR2	63	9	Group 10
USR3	63	10	Group 11
USR4	63	11	Group 12
PDR	63	32
UDR	63	40
GM	0	0	GM
GMDR	127	0	GMDR

The MODX information is taken from the table on page 184 of the MODX Data List PDF. These are the Motif XF banks supported by MMS. There are a few more (e.g., Mixing Voice), but those banks are not supported by MMS. If they ain’t supported by MMS, fuggedaboutit.

Please take note of these important observations and/or limitations:

All program change messages (except the General MIDI stuff) send bank select value 63. We only can select single-part MODX Performances.
MMS cannot send bank messages for all MODX presets. MODX recognizes bank LSB values for preset Performances in the range [0:31]. (We’re not considering User Performances, etc. here.)
We have full access to the regular General MIDI (GM) voices and drum kit.
We need to ignore Motif XF voice names and concentrate on the MMS bank and preset number only. Ignore voice identifiers like “A07”, too. They have no meaning in the MODX world.

Bottom line: If the MSB and LSB for a MODX Performance doesn’t fall into the range given by the table, we cannot select the MODX Performance from MMS.

Maybe, pretty please, Yamaha will update MMS for Montage, MODX and Genos?

The second big question is “How do we find the Bank Select MSB, Bank Select LSB and Program Change number for a MODX Performance?” Fortunately, the answer is easy. Select a Performance by touching its name. MODX displays a contextual menu on the left hand side of the screen. Touch the Property button. MODX displays the needed Performance properties as shown in the screenshot below. This is the property information for the single-part Performance Flute Legato.

I noted a small bug (version 1.10). MODX should display “63” for preset Performances, not “64”.

Back in MMS, if we want to select Flute Legato on the MODX, we need to select the USR3 bank (MSB 63, LSB 10) and “USR3 039” (Program Change 39).

Try Tenor Soft Legato (MSB 63, LSB 10, Program Change 31). Notice that the Performance name at the top of the MODX screen does not change. Touch the Name button to display the Performance name for each Part. Aha! The Performance name for the Part is “Tenor Soft Legato”, and yep, it’s playing a saxophone.

Fun, fun, fun. If you select an MMS part which does not yet have a corresponding MODX Part and change the MMS part, MODX creates a new Part in the Performance. Handy.

Drum kits

The drum kit situation is a glass half-full.

First, the good news. MMS can select 47 drum kits as listed in the table below.

MMS/Motif XF	MSB	LSB	PC#	Kit
PRE6 011	63	5	11	Real Drums Kit
PRE6 012	63	5	12	Real Drums Kit 2
PRE6 013	63	5	13	New Oak Custom Kit
PRE6 014	63	5	14	New Maple Custom Kit
PRE6 015	63	5	15	Beachwood Snare Kit
PRE6 016	63	5	16	Beachwood Snare Kit 2
PRE6 017	63	5	17	Real Brushes Kit
PRE6 018	63	5	18	Jazz Brushes Kit
PRE6 019	63	5	19	Jazz Sticks Kit
PRE6 020	63	5	20	D’elo Kit
PRE6 021	63	5	21	T’s EDM Kit
PRE6 022	63	5	22	T’s EDM Kit 2
PRE6 023	63	5	23	T’s Hip Hop Kit
PRE6 024	63	5	24	T’s Hip Hop Kit 2
PRE6 025	63	5	25	Trap Kit
PRE6 026	63	5	26	Trap Kit 2
PRE6 027	63	5	27	Downtempo Hip Hop Kit
PRE6 028	63	5	28	EDM Kit
PRE6 029	63	5	29	House Techno Kit
PRE6 030	63	5	30	House Techno Kit 2
PRE6 031	63	5	31	Electro Kit
PRE6 032	63	5	32	Electro Kit 2
PRE6 033	63	5	33	DUB Kit
PRE6 034	63	5	34	DUB Kit 2
PRE6 035	63	5	35	European EDM Kit 1
PRE6 036	63	5	36	European EDM Kit 2
PRE6 037	63	5	37	Dancefloor Kit
PRE6 038	63	5	38	Dancefloor Kit 2
PRE6 039	63	5	39	Psychodelic Dub Kit
PRE6 040	63	5	40	Brachial Kit
PRE6 041	63	5	41	Epic Kit
PRE6 042	63	5	42	Arab Mixed Kit 2
PRE6 043	63	5	43	Iranian Mix Kit
PRE6 044	63	5	44	Modern Rock Kit 2
PRE6 045	63	5	45	Brazil Kit 1
PRE6 046	63	5	46	Brazil Kit 2
PRE6 047	63	5	47	Turkish St Kit
PRE6 048	63	5	48	New Arabic Kit 1
PRE6 049	63	5	49	New Arabic Kit 2
…	…	…	…	…
PRE6 058	63	5	58	Highland Snares

There’s some really great stuff in there. Brachial blows me away!

Unfortunately, the eight zone (“8Z”) kits and many of the bread-and-butter kits like Power Standard Kit are out of reach. The 8Z kits need LSB 13 and the bread-and-butter kits need LSB 16. I’m bummed because I can’t get to my personal favorite, Break Kit. Its MIDI select values are MSB:63, LSB:16, PC#:54.

Hopefully, Yamaha will update Mobile Music Sequencer and we will get access to all of the MODX (Montage) Performances.

In case you’re wondering, I connected my iPad to MODX using the Apple Camera Connection Kit and a relatively ancient IK Multimedia iRig MIDI (5-pin) interface.

Mobile Music Sequencer mixer

Posted on September 27, 2018 by pj

In recent posts, I mentioned that Yamaha Mobile Music Sequencer (MMS) sends MIDI messages which conform to the XG voice and effects standard. Here’s a few screen shots to illustrate my observation.

The first thing everyone sees is the MMS Phrase Viewer. This is where you assemble phrases into sections. (It’s kind of like the Ableton Live Session View turned on its side.) Each section is a group of phrases which fit together musically and can be triggered together. [Click images to enlarge.] The song shown here is a rough attempt at Dub Reggae.

Each horizontal lane is a musical part. There are eight parts and they correspond to MIDI channels one to eight. Voice Link is enabled, so the voice for each part is determined by the pre-assigned voice for each phrase. MMS sends MIDI Bank Select MSB, Bank Select LSB and Program Change messages for each part. (See the Mobile Music Sequencer Reference page for more details including a list of voices.)

For this song, I used only six voices; that’s why there are two empty lanes. I intend to convert the song to a PSR/Tyros style. Thinking ahead, the parts 1 to 8 correspond to the Rhythm 1, Rhythm 2, Bass, Chord 1, Chord 2, Pad, Phrase 1 and Phrase 2 channels in a PSR/Tyros style. Enough about styles and style conversion for the moment.

When you tap the MIXER button, MMS displays its mixer view. From here, you can control the volume, pan, variation effect send, chorus effect send, and reverb send levels for each part.

These knobs are live. Each knob transmits its corresponding MIDI message as defined in the Yamaha XG architecture. The knobs transmit CC#7 volume, CC#10 pan, CC#94 variation send level, CC#92 chorus send level and CC#91 reverb send level. Thus, MMS does double-duty as a MIDI controller!

Tap the EEFECT button and MMS displays the effect connection view. This view shows the signal routing through the variation, chorus and reverb effect units. These knobs are live, too, and send XG MIDI messages to tweak the internal signal levels. This display is very handy if you’re an XG guy trying to spiff up a song.

The blue boxes with the left and right arrows select the effect algorithm assigned to the unit. (See the MMS Reference for details.) These buttons let you scoot quickly through different effects until you find the effect that strikes your fancy. MMS transmits the XG MIDI message to select the effect and it sends sixteen additional messages to set the effect parameters.

Speaking of effect parameters, tap the VAR button. (Tap CHO or REV.)

MMS displays sliders allowing you to tweeze the effect parameters. The screen shot (above) shows the parameters for the TEMPO DELAY effect algorithm.

Well, there you go. MMS is not only a sequencer, but it doubles as a MIDI controller. If you would like to know more, please read my earlier article Make music with MMS on PSR/TYROS.

MMS: Pack voices and drum kits

Posted on September 24, 2018 by pj

I’ve been mining the Yamaha Mobile Music Sequencer (MMS) patterns. Yamaha themselves mined these patterns from the old “Mini Mo” mm6/mm8 keyboards. The mm6 and mm8 are a somewhat unique hybrid of a Yamaha arranger and cut-down Motif MO synth.

I plan to post several PSR-compatible styles based on the MMS patterns. In the meantime, I drew up a list of the additional voices and drum kits in the add-on packs. The lists include the corresponding MSB bank select, LSB bank select and program change values. If Yamaha demonstrates any continuing interest in MMS (by releasing an update!), I will add this information to my existing Mobile Music Sequencer Reference page.

MMS sends all sorts of MIDI messages and can be used to control an XG-compatible sound engine, including reverb, chorus and variation effects. (See the Reference page.) MMS can export a Standard MIDI File (SMF) with a voice selection message for each track. Only certain targets are supported: Tyros 5, Motif XF, Motif XS, MOXF, MOX, and MX. I use the Tyros 5 setting to target Genos and the PSR-S950.

I have to say, the results sound quite good when played back on either Genos© or the PSR-S950. The hardware sound engines are far superior to the software engine in MMS. Still, one shouldn’t pass MMS by.

MMS Drum Kits

Program Change values are shown in two ways: starting from zero and starting from one. Raw MIDI messages number voices starting from zero. Sequencers and other software sometime number program change values starting from one. Check your DAW’s manual!

MMS Kit            Hex         PC# 0:127   PC# 1:128
-----------------  --------    ---------   ---------
Standard Kit       7F 00 00    127 0  0    127 0  1
Gate Drum Kit      7F 00 10    127 0 16    127 0 17    Electronic Pack
Analog T8 Kit      7F 00 19    127 0 25    127 0 26
Analog T9 Kit      7F 00 1A    127 0 26    127 0 27
Dance Kit          7F 00 1B    127 0 27    127 0 28
New Pop Kit        7F 00 1C    127 0 28    127 0 29    Dance Pop Pack
Trance Power Kit   7F 00 1D    127 0 29    127 0 30    Dance Pop Pack
Elct.Dub Kit 1     7F 00 1E    127 0 30    127 0 31    Electronic Pack
Elct.Dub Kit 2     7F 00 1F    127 0 31    127 0 32    Dance Pop Pack
Brush Kit          7F 00 28    127 0 40    127 0 40
Break Kit          7F 00 53    127 0 83    127 0 84
Hip Hop Kit 1      7F 00 54    127 0 84    127 0 85
Hip Hop Kit 2      7F 00 55    127 0 85    127 0 86    Hip Hop Pack
Hip Hop Kit 3      7F 00 56    127 0 86    127 0 87    Hip Hop Pack
R&B Kit 1          7F 00 57    127 0 87    127 0 88    R&B Pack
R&B Kit 2          7F 00 58    127 0 88    127 0 89    R&B Pack
Dubstep Kit        7F 00 59    127 0 89    127 0 90    Electronic Pack

SFX Kit            3F 20 00     63 0  0     63 0  1
Percussion Kit     3F 20 01     63 0  1     63 0  2
Epic FX            3F 20 02     63 0  2     63 0  3    Electronic Pack
Short FX           3F 20 03     63 0  3     63 0  4    Electronic Pack
Trance FX Menu     3F 20 04     63 0  4     63 0  5    Dance Pop Pack

MMS Dance pack voices

Voice              Hex         PC# 0:127   PC# 1:128
-----------------  --------    ---------   ---------
Brite Trance Arp   3F 00 2A    63 0  42    63 0  43
Cosmeter           3F 00 63    63 0  99    63 0 100
Dancy Hook         3F 00 23    63 0  35    63 0  36
Fat Dance Chordz   3F 00 24    63 0  36    63 0  37
Fix Start Seq      3F 00 29    63 0  41    63 0  42
Raw Square 5th     3F 00 26    63 0  38    63 0  39
Sawtooth Lead 3    3F 00 7E    63 0 126    63 0 127
Landing Pad        3F 00 73    63 0 115    63 0 116
Mystery Sine       3F 00 78    63 0 120    63 0 121
Rebirth '70        3F 00 7B    63 0 123    63 0 124
Sand Pad           3F 00 74    63 0 116    63 0 117
Brite Dance Bass   3F 00 21    63 0  33    63 0  34
Fat Trance Bass    3F 00 22    63 0  34    63 0  35
Lately             3F 00 54    63 0  84    63 0  85

MMS Electronic pack voices

Voice              Hex         PC# 0:127   PC# 1:128
-----------------  --------    ---------   ---------
Big Lead           3F 00 64    63 0 100    63 0 101
Snap Seq           3F 00 75    63 0 117    63 0 118
Sync Phat 1        3F 00 28    63 0  40    63 0  41
Sync Phat 2        3F 00 35    63 0  53    63 0  54
Wobble Phase       3F 00 2B    63 0  43    63 0  44
Back Pad           3F 00 72    63 0 114    63 0 115
Landscape          3F 00 7A    63 0 122    63 0 123
Vapor              35 00 6D    63 0 109    63 0 110
Synth Bass         3F 00 58    63 0  88    63 0  89
Wazoo              3F 00 55    63 0  85    63 0  86
Wobble Bass        3F 00 20    63 0  32    63 0  33
Hard Saw Brass     3F 00 5E    63 0  94    63 0  95
Ober Horns         3F 00 5A    63 0  90    63 0  91
Timeless           3F 00 5D    63 0  93    63 0  94

MMS Hip Hop voices

Voice              Hex         PC# 0:127   PC# 1:128
-----------------  --------    ---------   ---------
Growl Tekk         3F 00 36    63 0  54    63 0  55
Soft RnB           3F 00 69    63 0 105    63 0 106
Square Lead 2      3F 00 6A    63 0 106    63 0 107
Goblins            3F 00 7C    63 0 124    63 0 125
Light Pad          3F 00 6E    63 0 110    63 0 111
Chuggin' Guitar    3F 00 42    63 0  66    63 0  67
Jazz Organ 2       3F 00 41    63 0  65    63 0  66
P.Mod Bass         3F 00 57    63 0  87    63 0  88
Lots O'Brass       3F 00 45    63 0  69    63 0  70

MMS R&B pack voices

Voice              Hex         PC# 0:127   PC# 1:128
-----------------  --------    ---------   ---------
Mini Three         3F 00 60    63 0  96    63 0  97
Simple Oct         3F 00 62    63 0  98    63 0  99
Sine Comp          3F 00 77    63 0 119    63 0 120
Square Lead 3      3F 00 7D    63 0 125    63 0 126
Analog 2           3F 00 38    63 0  56    63 0  57
Twist              3F 00 79    63 0 121    63 0 122
Oct Fuzz           3F 00 43    63 0  67    63 0  68
Mellow Piano       3F 00 40    63 0  64    63 0  65
Ice Bells          3F 00 46    63 0  70    63 0  71
Dark Bass          3F 00 50    63 0  80    63 0  81
Kick Bass          3F 00 56    63 0  86    63 0  87

Mobile Music Sequencer revisited

Posted on September 6, 2018 by pj

Yamaha Mobile Music Sequencer (MMS) is an app that doesn’t seem to get as much love as it deserves. MMS is a rather complete MIDI sequencing tool to create new songs using a phrase-based approach. (Cost: $15.99USD) The MMS user interface has a superficial resemblance to Ableton Live. It has a phrase screen which lets you assemble preset or user phrases into song sections, e.g., phrases that play as a group. Once you have one or more song sections, you then assemble the sections in the linear song screen. You may also create new phrases of your own in a piano roll editor/recorder and you may record solos and such directly into a song track.

MMS includes an XG-architecture sound engine although the voice set is limited to a General MIDI (GM) subset and a collection of MMS-only voices. Voice quality is “just OK” and may be why MMS adoption is slow. However, as I’ve recently discovered, there are a few hidden gems like a Mega Voice clean electric guitar! DSP effects are basic and follow the XG effects architecture. I have summarized the sound set, DSP effects, etc. on my Mobile Music Sequencer Reference page.

Of course, you can mixdown and export full audio songs from MMS. MMS supports SoundCloud, Dropbox, and iTunes file transfer. You can also export a song to a Standard MIDI File (SMF). The SMF has eight parts — one part for each of MMS’s eight song tracks. If you choose one of the supported targets (Tyros 5, Motif XF, MOX, etc.), MMS inserts bank select and program change MIDI events to select an appropriate voice for each track. Unfortunately, MMS doesn’t export volume, pan or effect data, so the resulting SMF is quite naked. Ooops! This is one area where MMS could be and should be drastically improved.

MMS’s voicing for Tyros is not very adventurous. On the up side, SMFs targeted for Tyros should work quite well on other PSRs, too. There is one voicing issue which should be fixed. The MMS clean electric Mega Voice (“Clean Guitar 2”) should be mapped to the good old PSR/Tyros clean guitar mega voice. Right now, it’s mapped to the regular clean guitar voice and the guitar FX sounds are whack.

Yamaha have rather quietly enhanced MMS’s capabilities. MMS is now up to version 3, including chord templates, extraction of chord progressions a la Chord Tracker, and more. The last minor update made MMS compatibile with Apple iOS 11. I hope Yamaha add Genos and Montage support because MMS can communicate directly (via wired MIDI, Bluetooth MIDI or wireless LAN) to its supported synths and arrangers.

Given the amount of kvetching about the shortcomings of the Montage sequencer, I’m surprised that more Montage people haven’t picked up MMS. Same for Genos or PSR, for that matter. Maybe its the lack of direct Montage or Genos support?

Where you from, boy?

Recently, I got the itch to create a few new PSR-compatible styles. I’ve always felt that MMS would make a good base for a style editor. You can quickly slam together phrases into a song section and see if they play well together. (Same as Ableton Live, I might say.) I mix and match phrases into song sections then export the sections to an SMF. Each MMS song section is a PSR style section (MAIN A, MAIN B, etc.) I load the SMF into a DAW where I add style section markers, SysEx set-up data, volume, pan, etc. When satisfied, I add a style CASM section using Jørgen Sørensen’s CASM editor. [Be sure to check out all of Jørgen’s excellent tools.]

Given the content, I can just about do this in my sleep. It’s a fairly mechanical process once you understand it and do it, say, fifty times. 🙂

About that content…

MMS comes with ten styles (i.e., groups of phrases) in the initial download. Please see the table at the end of this article. The ten styles are rock and pop. If you’re looking for R&B, dance, jazz, electronic or hip-hop, you’ll want to buy one of the content packs offered as an in-app purchase. I’ve include a table for these packs, too, at the end of the article. The genre packs are $3.99USD each. Yamaha also offer the multi-genre QY pack ($7.99USD) with phrases taken from the Yamaha QY-70 (QY-100) handheld sequencer. I did a little QY-70 mining myself.

Now for the usual Yamaha archeology…

The “MM” in “MMS” is a little bit ironic. The MMS phrases are lifted from the (infamous) “Mini Mo” mm6 and mm8 keyboards. The Mini Mo touted voices taken from the Motif series, but the mm6 and mm8 didn’t really know if they wanted to be an arranger or a synthesizer. In that regard, the Mini Mo is a unique functional hybrid in Yamaha’s bipolar world. (“You’re either a synth or you’re an arranger.” Digital pianos excepted, of course.)

So, yep, MMS offers almost all of that old (ca. 2006) Mini Mo goodness. You don’t get the fun ethnic patterns (Turkish, African, Indian), tho’.

If you break into your rich neighbor’s house to steal his stereo, you might as well take the TV set, too. The Mini Mo arpeggios are incorporated into the the Yamaha Synth Arp & Drum Pad app. If you still can get the Synth Arp & Drum Pad app, snag it right away. It’s being discontinued.

How does it sound on Genos?

Not bad. Even though the target voices are rather vanilla, an MMS-derived style on Genos sounds pretty darned good.

List of MMS drum kits

Bank MSB	Bank LSB	Prog#	PC#	Drum kit
7FH	00H	1	00H	Standard Kit
7FH	00H	26	19H	Analog T8 Kit
7FH	00H	27	1AH	Analog T9 Kit
7FH	00H	28	1BH	Dance Kit
7FH	00H	41	28H	Brush Kit
7FH	00H	84	53H	Break Kit
7FH	00H	85	54H	Hip Hop Kit 1
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	Hip Hop Kit 2 (Hip Hop)
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	Hip Hop Kit 3 (Hip Hop)
7FH	00H	88	57H	R&B Kit 1 (R&B)
7FH	00H	89	58H	R&B Kit 2 (R&B)
3FH	20H	1	00H	SFX Kit
3FH	20H	2	01H	Percussion Kit
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	Dubstep Kit (Electronic)
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	Elct.Dub Kit 1 (Electronic)
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	Elct.Dub Kit 2 (Dance)
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	Epic FX (Electronic)
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	Gate Drum Kit (Electronic)
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	Short FX (Electronic)
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	New Pop Kit (Dance)
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	Trance FX Menu (Dance)
7FH	00H	XX	xxH	Trance Power Kit (Dance)

List of styles

The following preset styles are installed with Yamaha Mobile Music Sequencer when you buy MMS.

Category: Rock/Pop	Jazz/World
BluesRck	Funky Jaz
ChartPop	JzGroove
ChartRck	Reggae
FunkPpRk
HardRock
PianoBld
PowerRck
RkShffle
RockPop
RootRock

Here are the styles included in each optional, in-app purchase pack:

R&B	Electronic	Dance	HipHop
IzzleRB	Ambient	Dncehall	AcidJazz
JazzyRnB	Analog	Dncfloor	Amb Rap
RB Chrt1	Chillout	E-Disco	ButiqHH
RB Chrt2	Dubstep	E-DubPop	EastRap
RnB Bld1	ElctDub	EleDance	HipHopPp
RnB Bld2	Electron	ElktPop1	JazRemix
RnB Pop1	Minimal	ElktPop2	SouthRap
RnB Pop2	Techno	FunkyHse	WestRap
RnB Soul	Undrgrnd	LatinJaz
		M-Trance

Whither XG?

Posted on September 28, 2015 by pj

Once upon a time, the hardware tone module was king of “desktop music production.” A wide range of options were available from pro-level tone modules to desktop tone generators to ISA/PCI cards. The General MIDI (GM) standard came about in this era because people wanted to have consistent playback across hardware platforms.

Every manufacturer offered one or more modules. Two players — Roland and Yamaha — jumped in big. Each company offered desktop tone modules adhering to their own semi-proprietary extensions of the General MIDI standard. Roland had its GS while Yamaha had its XG.

Then, software plug-ins killed the tone module.

Native, computer-based signal processing became fast enough that hardware tone generation was no longer required.

Roland GS, meanwhile, has gone on relatively hard times. Today, Roland offers two products that are up-front GS: Mobile Studio Canvas and Sound Canvas for iOS. The Mobile Studio Canvas is a pricey little number that streets out at $429 USD. Not exactly cheap. Sound Canvas for iOS is an iOS app supporting Inter-App Audio and Audiobus. Roland claim that the app and its host can act as a tone module through a suitable Core MIDI compatible interface. Mobile Studio Canvas is $19.99 through the Apple App Store.

The Virtual Sound Canvas was a VST- and DXi-compatible, multi-timbral soft synth. Unfortunately, for desktop users, the Roland Virtual Sound Canvas (VSC-MP1) was discontinued.

Yamaha XG is battered, but is still breathing. XG-based hardware tone modules are nearly extinct. (Check ebay…) However, current arrangers from Yamaha offers XG compatibility, even if it’s only the XGlite subset. In fact, XG is the de facto voice architecture on arranger keyboards. Edit a voice on an arranger and you are tweaking XG parameters. Of course, this means that you must have space for an arranger on your desktop. A half-rack 1U tone module is far more compact and desktop-friendly.

“Pro” keyboardists still turn up their noses at GS, XG and arrangers. A large part of this is guilt by association with General MIDI. Beneath it all in Yamaha-land, the synths and the arrangers share hardware technology such as CPUs and tone generation circuits. XG is essentially a wrapper around pro-level samples and tone generation.

XG also lives at the heart of the Yamaha Mobile Music Sequencer (MMS) app. MMS has a software-based XG engine inside. It supports 9 reverb, 4 chorus and 26 variation effects. Yamaha cut down the XGlite sound set to just 42 GM voices plus 42 or so synth voices. In case you’re interested, I’ve documented many of the XG features in MMS here:

Mobile Music Sequencer Reference
Make music with MMS on PSR/TYROS

MMS demonstrates that it’s possible to host XG on an iPad with an ARM processor. Will Yamaha answer Roland’s Sound Canvas for iOS?

Needing an XG-compatible VST soft synth on Windows, I went in search of one and stumbled onto a retro cult. Turns out, there are a whole lot of other people who would like an XG-compatible VSTi on Windows, too.

First, there are enthusiasts who are trying to resurrect the S-YXG50 soft synthesizer on Windows 7 (and earlier). The S-YXG50 uses either a 2MByte or 4MByte wave table, so we’re not talking stellar sound quality. I experimented with S-YXG50 on Windows 7 with no success.

Then, there are enthusiasts who take old daughter boards (DB50XG or DB60XG) and fashion standalone tone modules from them. (Just add a power supply and a MIDI interface.) These daughter boards have a 4MByte wave table. Like XG tone modules, XG daughter boards are scarce as hen’s teeth.

The issue that always rears its head with this old tech is the availability of drivers. You can find the occasional Yamaha-based sound card or SW1000XG, but driver support usually stops with Windows XP (at best).

Finally, another sub-cult has discovered the joys of Yamaha MidRadio. MidRadio is a MIDI player application for Windows 8 (and earlier). It is XGlite compatible with 361 regular voices, 10 drum kits and 2 SFX kits. A few of the regular voices are so-called “panel voices” in the PSR E-series — an added bonus! Wave table size is about 11MBytes. And, guess what? It sounds pretty darned good. Here are links to the list of voices and effects in MidRadio version 7:

List of MidRadio voices and effects

If you try MidRadio, be prepared to use Google translate and be prepared to wade through a Japanese-only user interface.

A few intrepid souls discovered that the MidRadio sound engine (SGP2.DLL) is just a few bricks short of being a VST software instrument (VSTi). They developed a patch which turns the DLL into a VSTi. Yes, the patch works and I can send XG-compliant MIDI from Steinberg Cubase, Ableton Live and VSTHost to SGP2. It plays rather nicely.

In general, I do not recommend this approach. Anytime you download a patch from the Web and execute it, you put the privacy and security of your computer and its information at risk.

Given this enormous red flag, I wish that Yamaha would sell an XG-compatible VSTi for Windows and Mac. There are users waiting for properly a supported, street legal XG plug-in soft synth at a reasonable price. And certainly, we wouldn’t turn down a free one.

Make music with MMS on a PSR

Posted on March 6, 2015 by pj

Yamaha Mobile Music Sequencer includes features for Motif, MOX and Tyros5, but did you know that you can create music using MMS on your PSR arranger? Yes, you can!

I’m using MMS with both the Yamaha PSR-E443 and PSR-S950 and I have written up a tutorial on making music with MMS on PSR/Tyros. This article concentrates on set-up, MIDI voice selection and MIDI file export which are aspects not covered by the MMS manual. The tutorial complements the many on-line videos that demonstrate composition and mix down. In particular, I show how to use the full 128 voice General MIDI voice set in the PSR, thereby expanding your sonic palette beyond the limited range of voices built into MMS.

Enjoy and keep on keepin’ on!

More new phrases for MMS

Posted on October 14, 2014 by pj

If you enjoyed the last batch of phrases for Yamaha Mobile Music Sequencer, here’s some more! All of the phrases are taken from funky, jazzy styles on the PSR-S950 arranger keyboard.

FunkPoppin	ZIP
FunkPopRock	ZIP
JazzFunk	ZIP
JazzPop	ZIP
KoolFunk	ZIP

These loops are free and ready for download — 250+ phrases for drum, bass, electric piano, guitar and brass. The phrases are in YMS2 format files. Just copy these files to your iCloud Mobile Music Sequencer directory and you’re ready to go. Under OS X, the iCloud MMS mobile documents directory is:

~/Library/Mobile Documents/XXXX~yamahamusic~mobilemusicseq/Documents

The easiest way to get there in the Finder is to hold down the Option key and select “Library” in the “Go” menu. This will take you directly to your application support library directory. The “XXXX” in the path name above is some crufty identifier generated by OS X and will vary from user to user. Navigate down through the “Mobile Documents” directory until you reach the MMS documents. This is where you should put the YMS2 phrase files.

Also, don’t forget about the Music Gallery where you can find additional MIDI, PSR/Tyros style and MP3 content.

If you want to create your own original MMS phrases from MIDI, check out this tutorial. Once you’ve gone through the process a few times, you’ll be able to translate your own MIDI phrases on autopilot!

MMS as a tool

Posted on March 13, 2014 by pj

I’ve got a lot more experience with the Yamaha Mobile Music Sequencer (MMS), so it’s worth passing along an update. I’ve been composing backing tracks for classic soul jazz tunes. If you would like to hear the results, please browse over to the Music Gallery.

MMS is a phrase- and section- oriented composition tool. A song is a sequence of one or more sections and a section is a group of phrases that play together. The phrases follow the section’s chord progression. Thus, it’s easy to pull a section together given a chord progression from a lead sheet and a library of drum, bass, guitar and piano phrases (MIDI loops).

This approach works great for a simple tune like “Memphis Underground.” Memphis Underground is built on a single chord (C7) and simple bass figure that repeats ad infinitum. Just set the chord progression for each section to C7 and stack drum, bass, guitar and electric piano phrases. Vary the arrangement by stacking different phrases in each section and lay down the different sections in the song. I recorded the simple flute part that makes up the head (the main melodic theme) into a phrase of its own. Finally, I recorded solo parts into the MMS song screen because it didn’t make sense to split the solos into separate phrases. Overall, this approach worked out pretty well.

Life got a little more interesting with “Watermelon Man” and “Comin’ Home Baby.” These tunes are 16- and 12-bar blues. It would be great to arrange the songs from short 4-bar phrases and just let the phrases follow the chord progression. However, when fills are placed at the end of a 4-bar phrase, the fills do not always play at the most musically appropriate points in the tune! I resolved this problem by increasing the phrase length to 8 bars. I also recorded the head into a phrase of its own. It’s handy to play back the head while stacking phrases even if you intend to record the head along with the solos in the MMS song tracks. Melodic phrases such as these must be set to by-pass transposition.

Then there are tunes like “Tough Talk” and “Put It Where You Want It.” These tunes are based on one or more musical hooks that are essential to the character of the song. Generic bass or piano phrases just don’t cut it. I had to record phrases to cover the hooks and the head. Now, on-the-fly transposition guided by the section chord progression really starts to fight you! I wound up recording full, chorus-long phrases (all 12-bars), effectively ignoring (defeating) chord transposition by the sequencer. Each section has only one chord (e.g., F7 or C7) which simply determines the key for the tune. The hook phrases must be set for “parallel” transposition.

Put It Where You Want It is a work in progress. This tune is even more complicated to sequence because it has three major sections, each with a distinctive hook and theme. Stay tuned!

Overall workflow with MMS has been good. The Mixdown feature makes it easy to create a WAV file. MIDI (SMF) export is also easy. I’m using iTunes File Sharing to move the WAV and MID files to a PC where I convert the WAV to MP3 and add General MIDI (GM) SysEx and voices to the SMF file. iTunes File Sharing is a lot less hassle than I originally anticipated. The latest version (3.1) of MMS adds Dropbox, but I haven’t updated as yet.

There is one minor recurring problem. The MMS tone generator is a subset of the Yamaha XG standard and includes extended XG drum kits. This is good for musicians who are working on XG-compatible and/or Yamaha instruments because the GM drum kit is quite limited. However, the extended MIDI notes outside of the GM range do not map to the same percussion sounds on non-XG equipment, e.g., Roland Sound Canvas. So, I have had to edit the MIDI file and remap notes to make the drum parts truly General MIDI compatible.

Workflow is essentially in one direction only. I think the software developers see MMS as a mobile sketchpad where a musician jots down ideas that are transferred to and finished on a computer-based DAW. MMS cannot import results from the DAW. So, once you start editing with your DAW (e.g., SONAR or Cubase), you’re committed.

Well, there you have it. The true worth and limitations of a software tool like MMS are only apparent when taking on complicated, real-world problems. I’m still enthusiastic about MMS, but I’m also more knowledgeable and wary of its limitations. The song/section/phrase structure can definitely fight back at times!

Music gallery

Posted on February 12, 2014 by pj

If you would like to hear some of my work, please head over to the new music gallery page. The music gallery has MP3 demos, MIDI files and Yamaha Mobile Music Sequence (MMS) project files. Feel free to download the MIDI files and MMS projects. I’ve also posted a few production notes for each track. The production notes describe problems, solutions and tweaks. This is the place to go if you would like to hear MMS applied to something other than EDM!

I just posted two songs — Memphis Underground and Comin’ Home Baby — two good old soul jazz tunes. Both tracks were initially composed using MMS and were exported as Standard MIDI Format (SMF) files. The SMF files were imported into Cakewalk Sonar. General MIDI (GM) instruments were assigned and levels were set in Sonar. I played the files back through a Roland Sound Canvas and then checked playback through Windows Media Player.

While going through this process, I discovered that MMS generates “stripped” SMF files. MMS exports initial program (patch) changes, but does not export channel volume, pan or effect levels. The program changes depend upon the hardware setting on the export page. The “SMF” option produces General MIDI-like program changes while the “MOX” option produces a weird mixture of GM and MOX voices. It looks like MMS tries to pick the MOX voice that most closely resembles the voice used in the MMS part. The MMS manual is not very specific about all of this and you should be prepared to modify patch changes and set levels when tweaking an MMS-generated MIDI file in your DAW/sequencer.

There were also a few fix-ups related to differences between the MMS XG-like sound generator, the Roland Sound Canvas and the General MIDI standard. GM defines only one drum kit with a limited selection of individual percussion instruments. For example, finger snap is not part of the GM standard. Both Yamaha XG and Roland GS (Sound Canvas) implement an extended GM kit. Of course, the extensions are different (!) and finger snap is assigned to different keys. So, you should expect to tweak the drum tracks in the MIDI files for your own sound generator. Roland and Yamaha also define their note numbers differently and bass instruments, in particular, may sound one octave higher or lower. Transpose away and have fun!

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Electronics and computing for the fun of it

Category Archives: Mobile Music Sequencer